Destiny
by Miasen
Summary: Iruka had never been one to give much thought to destiny. When asked if he believed in fate or soulmates or destiny he would only smile and shake his head. Iruka had no reason to believe. At least not until today. AU, written for Iruka appreciation week.


Iruka had never been one to give much thought to destiny. When asked if he believed in fate or soulmates or destiny he would only smile and shake his head. Iruka had no reason to believe. Life was what you made it to be. Hard work was more likely to bring results than not giving your fullest and relationships just sometimes didn't work out. Things might be bad or good, but it was all a mix of variables, not destiny. If he believed in destiny he would perhaps have been more depressed over the fact that he was alone in the world, because if this was what his life was always intended to be it was a shitty destiny.

It was raining heavily. Of course it was raining. Because it wasn't enough that his car broke down halfway home from work, and it certainly wasn't enough that he had just been laid off said work today. Here he had been ready for a day at the office, trudging through his work, filing away papers and checking numbers. Instead he had been sent home before lunch. _Budget cuts_ they'd said, _out of ours hands_ , as if that was in any way comforting. But Iruka had smiled and said that he understood and kept up the pretence until he came back to his car where he had gotten his frustration out with a violent shake of the steering wheel and a short scream that brought the attention of a woman walking her dog nearby. Iruka ducked down and hid his blushing face.

And then the car stopped out of nowhere, and he could have sworn that the rain started the very moment he stepped out of the car, as a last fuck you.

Trudging through the rain he silently fumed, and if he had been a spiritual man he might have cursed out whichever deity had done this to him, but he wasn't, so he just accepted it as the accident it was, the car and the rain and the whole getting laid off business.

With water running in cold rivulets down in neck, hair plastered to his face and socks thoroughly drenched it was difficult to keep his spirits up, at least when he knew there was still a good half an hour walk to go home. He'd take a cab, but without a job he should maybe not spend the money, so he kept walking, hands in his pockets, head bowed to the rain.

When he rounded a corner he almost stumbled over a chalkboard sign placed haphazardly in the middle of the sidewalk advertising "Coffee. Black. Cheap. Hot. Sometimes food."

Iruka snorted and looked to the coffee shop, which was just as non-descript as the sign might indicate. He hadn't walked these streets before, just driven past, so he hadn't noticed the place before. It didn't particularly stand out.

From what he could see through the large window it looked like any coffee shop, only… simpler. A mix of chairs and tables, only a few matching. Walls plain apart from a couple of posters that looked they had been hung to advertise something and then just never been taken down.

There were a couple of people sitting inside, but other than that it looked deserted. Calm. Nothing like the stress of the Starbucks by his office building where it was all long lines and noise.

With the rain still pouring down giving Iruka no reason to believe it had any plan to stop anytime soon, and a stomach who was trying to not so politely tell him that maybe it was time for lunch soon Iruka made a snap decision and walked inside.

He pushed the shorter hairs that always escaped the low bun he tied at the nape of his neck back from his forehead and shrugged off his coat as he walked towards the counter. There was no one standing there, but a small brass bell stood placed in the middle of it, so Iruka lifted it and gave a small ring. Moment later a door to the side of the desk pushed open. Iruka looked towards it, and the moment his eyes locked on the person standing there the world froze, everything but that one man vanishing.

Something clicked in Iruka's mind, like the final piece of the puzzle sliding into place, completing something Iruka hadn't even know was incomplete.

Iruka knew this man. Not in this life, but from _before_. He remembered another life, blurs and flashes that made no sense yet, but he remembered _him_ , remembered Kakashi. Gone were the mask over his face and the headband tilted over his eyes, but the grey hair was still there, as unruly as ever, although it was shorter now.

There was no scar dissecting his eye, and the eyes looking at Iruka, wide in surprise, was both a steely grey.

Iruka choked on the memories suddenly flooding him, a flood that had broken through a dam in his mind. He remembered their life, short and bloody. A relationship that had never been able to bloom, stopped by war and a world that didn't open for a happily ever after.

Iruka grabbed the edge of the counter to steady himself. A moment or two or ten passed with just the two looking at each other. It was as if he was remembering some lost dream, and part of him thought he must've relived that other life while he slept, because it felt like he had just seen Kakashi, the other Kakashi, the one from earlier, even if it was at least a lifetime ago.

Suddenly everything made sense. The way Iruka had always felt something missing, like there was something not quite right with him, some vague feeling of _is this really all there is_. Iruka had a whole other life once, one filled with loss and pain and death, but also light and love and Kakashi.

Time unfroze as Kakashi got out from behind the counter, stopping right in front of Iruka. He looked the same but also different. Not just the hair or the matching eyes. He wasn't as hard around the edges, a man who wasn't thrust into a life of a warrior as a kid. He looked… not happy, but more at ease.

Kakashi lifted a hand and placed it on Iruka's face, just like he had done a dozen times back then. It was different again, his fingers not callused or marked by the dozens of scars they had been. Soft and warm.

"Iruka. I've been waiting for you," Kakashi said, and Iruka felt his heart soar.

Iruka had never been one to give much thought to destiny, but if someone asked if he believed in fate or soulmates or destiny he would give a small smile, and maybe his eyes would flick towards Kakashi and he would nod. Yes, he had every reason to believe.


End file.
